Liberti pleads to judge for release

In his latest letter seeking early release from federal prison, disgraced former West Palm Beach City Commissioner Ray Liberti complained to a federal judge that he regrets he "succumbed to threats and a plea deal" at the hands of the U.S. attorney and that he should not be in a maximum-security detention center.

"I have not seen light, air or sun for one year. I should not be here," Liberti wrote to U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas in a letter dated Oct 16 and filed with the court Monday.

With about seven months left in his federal prison sentence, Liberti, 61, has been negotiating for an early release, according to court records.

On June 6, Liberti sent a handwritten letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons requesting immediate release to "home confinement, halfway house or a furlough" so that he could help his mother take care of his father, Rinaldo, 84, of Royal Palm Beach, who was dying of bladder cancer and other complications.

Despite several requests, Liberti has been turned down. His father died Sept. 13 and since then Liberti, who notes he is an only child, has been asking for an early release or a 30-day furlough to inter his father's ashes on Dec. 22 and take care of his 81-year-old mother.

Liberti was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2006 for mail fraud and obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors said Liberti used his elected position to cite the West Palm Beach owners of a nightclub and massage parlor for code violations as a way to intimidate them into selling their businesses below market price to buyers he had chosen.

In return for his help, Liberti received $66,000 in cash delivered in a shaving kit and an expensive TAG Heuer watch from the prospective buyers of Relax with Us and Club Nessum Dorma.

In a motion filed earlier this month, Liberti said the Bureau of Prisons "deliberately procrastinated" in responding to his pleas for release when his father was still alive. He called their response "inhuman and unjust."

In his letter filed Monday, Liberti attacked the Bureau of Prisons reading of law in denying his release. He also attacked the prosecutors, calling their case against him "truly entrapment."

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kastrenakes declined to comment on the letter.

Liberti wrote to Dimitrouleas: "I have been living an exemplary life at FDC [Federal Detention Center]. No one believes I should be here and one inmate asked the assistant warden if he could serve the balance of my remaining months."

He concluded his letter: "This is not the justice and compassion envisioned by our democracy. One size does not fit all."

Sally Apgar can be reached at sapgar@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5506.